History ComicBook / BeastsOfBurden

* VengefulGhost: In "Lost," [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Devil's Well]] is full of [[spoiler:the angry ghosts of countless animals tortured, killed, and dumped into the pond by a sadistic teenager. They're only pacified after three of them possess Rex, Ace, and Hazel to break into the boy's house and kill him.]]

* HowlingToTheNight: The best way for the cast to communicate over a distance.

Originally starting as a series of short comics that were released in anthologies [[http://www.darkhorse.com/Features/eComics/1090/Beasts-of-Burden and later online]], it expanded into a series of limited runs and one-shots, and is collected in {{omnibus}}es. Written by Creator/EvanDorkin (with Dorkin's wife, Sarah Dyer, occasionally co-writing) with art by Jill Thompson (and later Benjamin Dewey), the pacing, art, and script are all top-notch, and it soon became a popular (if low-profile) new property.

Originally starting as a series of short comics that were released in anthologies [[http://www.darkhorse.com/Features/eComics/1090/Beasts-of-Burden and later online]], it expanded into a series of limited runs and one-shots, and is collected in {{omnibus}}es. Written by Creator/EvanDorkin with art by Jill Thompson (and later Benjamin Dewey), the pacing, art, and script are all top-notch, and it soon became a popular (if low-profile) new property.

* {{Foreshadowing}}:
-->'''Whitey:''' W-witches?\\
'''Pugs:''' Yeah. An' demon cats. An' later we'll have ''werewolves''.
** In "A Dog and His Boy," a newspaper lands on Pugsley's face. The main article is about a pair of teens killed in the woods by a wild animal.

* TheGrimReaper: The Black Dog from dog mythology, [[{{Psychopomp}} shepherdess of the dead]] who fetches the souls of the departed.

* WillingChanneler: In "Lost", Jack [[spoiler:lets the ghosts of Hazel's puppies possess him, so they can speak through him]].

* TheGrimReaper: The Black Dog from dog mythology, [[Psychopomp shepherdess of the dead]] who fetches the souls of the departed.

* TooManyMouths: The monster in ''Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men'' has one main mouth at the front, and multiple mouths along its sides.

* BookEnds: "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" [[https://www.darkhorse.com/Features/eComics/1090/Beasts-of-Burden?part_num=1&page=24 begins]] and [[https://www.darkhorse.com/Features/eComics/1090/Beasts-of-Burden?part_num=1&page=39 ends]] with focus on a dead dog and [[{{Epigraph}} a quote]]. (Warning for gore behind the links)

** "The View from the Hill" features a herd of ghost sheep and their sheepdog who turn out to have died in a barn fire.

--> '''Jack, channeling Ty (Hazel's puppy):''' The ones before us... they scare us... they're so angry... They're awake now! You woke them up! Chloe, run! They're here... so many..."
--> ''[dozens of ghosts of puppies and kittens erupt out of the pond]''
--> '''Ghosts:''' GIVE US EYES! GIVE US TEETH! '''GIVE US BLOOD!'''

--> ''[dozens of ghosts of puppies and kittens erupt out of the lake]''
--> '''Ghosts:''' Give us eyes! Give us teeth! GIVE US BLOOD!

* RedEyesTakeWarning: The angry ghosts in "Lost" have red PinpointPupils, and anything possessed by them gains red scleras.

--> ''[dozens of ghosts of dogs and cats erupt out of the lake]''

---> '''Jack, channeling Tym(Hazel's puppy):''' The ones before us... they scare us... they're so angry... They're awake now! You woke them up! Chloe, run! They're here... so many..."
---> ''[dozens of ghosts of dogs and cats erupt out of the lake]''
---> '''Ghosts:''' Give us eyes! Give us teeth! GIVE US BLOOD!

* VengefulGhost: In "Lost," [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Devil's Well]] is full of [[spoiler:the angry ghosts of countless animals tortured and killed by a sadistic teenager. They're only pacified after three of them possess Rex, Ace, and Hazel to break into the boy's house and kill him.]]

* VengefulGhost: In "Lost," {{IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace|Devil's Well}} is full of [[spoiler:the angry ghosts of countless animals tortured and killed by a sadistic teenager. They're only pacified after three of them possess Rex, Ace, and Hazel to break into the boy's house and kill him.]]
---> '''Jack, channeling Puppy Ghost:''' The ones before us... they scare us... they're so angry... They're awake now! You woke them up! Chloe, run! They're here... so many..."

* Dehumanization: The animal-torturing teenager in "Lost." The ghosts of Hazel's puppies [[ItIsDehumanizing call him "it" when they describe how they died, and in the scenes where [[spoiler: Rex, Ace and Hazel kill him while possessed by other, angrier ghosts, his screams aren't rendered in text.]] We just see him with his mouth open, then being [[tackled and mauled by the dogs]].

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: The puppies in "Lost" all suffered this by the sadistic teen that killed them, being shoved into cages and boxes, chained to rocks, and everything else before being tossed into a pond to drown. They are... not happy about this.

* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler: The ghost puppies possess Rex and Ace and their mother to take brutal vengeance on their murderer]].

* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:In "A Dog and His Boy", Ace comes close to death, [[SnowMeansDeath lying and bleeding in the snow]]. A black dog appears, seemingly the Grim Reaper figure mentioned earlier in the issue, but it turns out to be a wise dog apprentice who manages to help him.]]

** All of the main characters start off as just normal pets (and one stray) who happen to get caught up in the supernatural oddities going on in Burden. Once they're inducted into the Wise Dogs Society they begin learning how to cast spell, though as of yet none of them have much aptitude for it yet.

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: The ghost sheep the society encounters; to everyone except Jack, they look like normal sheep, but to Jack [[spoiler: [[JacobMarleyApparel they appear like how they looked at their moment of death]], and since they all burned to death...]]
-->''"He can see." "I'm afraid so. The poor thing..."''

** "Lost" features the ghosts of tons of animals, wild and domesticated alike, who were killed by [[spoiler:a serial killer of animals.]]

* GhostlyChill: In "Stray", when Ace picks up Trixie's collar, he comments, "did it just get colder?" The next panel, there's a ghostly wail.

* TheGrimReaper: The Black Dog from dog mythology, shepherdess of the dead who fetches the souls of the departed.

* HeroesRUs: The Wise Dogs Society, though it's a volunteer thing, and [[AncientTradition seems to have been around for a while]].

** Oddly, as [[spoiler: the boy lays dying at the end, he can no longer understand Ace]], which seems to imply that the [[spoiler: lycanthropy]] may be playing a part, which conflicts what he said earlier.

* MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes: In "The Unfamiliar", the narration describes Rex and the Orphan's lives as flashing before their eyes when they're close to getting sucked in by the vortex. Or in the Orphan's case, [[CatsHaveNineLives his first three]].
* {{Mundanger}}: Most of the dangers the characters face are supernatural in nature. However, in "Lost", ultimately the source of the problem turns out to be [[spoiler:a teenage boy who is secretly a serial animal killer]].

* RascallyRaccoon: One is encountered that seems basically ''psychotic'', but the next page shows it's very young, and its mother is streetwise and much more levelheaded. He later reappears -- and it's established his name is Hoke -- and reluctantly assists the cats in opening a charmed door and later, tries to go up against a powerful demon.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Rex does this a few times, fitting in with his CowardlyLion status. [[ArbitrarySkepticism Pugs]] suggests this very often, but doesn't actually follow through.

* TerribleIntervieweesMontage: The beginning of "Lost" sees the gang listening to "supernatural" reports from various neighborhood dogs. One reports a loud neighbor cat, one [[ItKindOfLooksLikeAFace saw the Great Dog in a bowl of food]], two report an urban legend about a killer tree, and another speaks about having been microchipped as if it were an alien abduction.
* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:Hazel is reunited with her pups in death.]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Literature/{{Bunnicula}}'', but for an older audience (and for those who aren't bothered by cute talking animals enduring horrific physical peril and scarring emotional trauma).

''[menacing forest animal noises]''\\

* WillingChanneler: In "Lost", Jack acts as one [[spoiler:to the ghosts of Hazel's puppies, so they can speak through him]].

'''Hoke, holding doorknob:''' You owe me for this.

''[menacing forest animal noices]''\\

In 2013, it was announced that [[WesternAnimation/{{Nine}} Shane Acker]] would be doing a CGI-animated film based on the property.

* AnimalisticAbomination: The aggregate demon is a giant frog who speaks in special speech bubbles and says it will eat everything.

* RainOfSomethingUnusual: In "The Gathering Storm", it rains frogs.

* RascallyRaccoon: One is encountered that seems basically ''psychotic'', but the next page shows it's very young, and its mother is streetwise and much more levelheaded. He later reappears, and reluctantly assists the cats in opening a charmed door and later, tries to go up against a powerful demon.

%%* InMediasRes

%%* MauveShirt

* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Very. Silver bullets still work though.

%%* UrbanFantasy

* ACatInAGangOfDogs: The main characters initially consist of five dogs and a cat. All six of them join the Wise Dog Society. Lampshaded in "Sacrifice", when they introduce themselves to Hellboy as junior apprentices of the Wise Dog Society:

* CatsAreMean: Seems to be setting up in the first issue, when the Orphan is dismissive about the rumors about the Wise Dogs, and again with the witches' cats and some of the Orphan's friends. But the Orphan while snarky is actually insightful and typically quite willing to help.

-->'''Sheep:''' He's never mentioned any cats there, or sheep, or humans. Only dogs. When the end comes, and you leave this place…Won't you miss [[ACatInAGangOfDogs your friend]], if his path takes him somewhere else?

** Emrys claims that he had to tear out his own eye to stop the spread of a basilisk's [[TakenForGranite petrifying gaze]]. But that was apparently just a scary story to keep the puppies listening to him from getting into danger; he points out to Pugsley afterward that there's nothing wrong with his eyes -- not that anyone could tell.

** Emrys claims that he had to tear out his own eye to stop the spread of a basilisk's [[TakenForGranite petrifying gaze]]. But that was apparently just a scary story to keep the puppies listening to him from getting into danger; he points out to Pugsley afterward that there's nothing wrong with his eyes -- [[BlindingBangs not that anyone could tell]].

** In "Sacrifice", [[spoiler:Pugsley pees on Karl's talking skull in defiance, which inadvertently ends up being the key to victory as it taints the blood ritual.]]